Learn to DelegateMany brides have a difficult time relinquishing any
responsibilities involved with planning her wedding for fear of losing control but it’s really in her best
interests to learn to delegate responsibilities. The maid of honor, parents of the bride, parents of the groom and
even the groom are probably all eager and willing to help out with the wedding plans and it is important to let
them do so. The key to delegating responsibilities is to entrust others to take control of areas that you may not
be especially particular about. For example the favors are a very important part of the wedding and the bride most
likely wants to shop for and choose the favors herself. Her maid of honor or soon to be husband may accompany her
on this shopping excursion for support and to offer their opinions but this is not likely a task that the bride
will want to relinquish.
Conversely, the bride may not be too particular about how the place cards are written out so this might be an
example of a responsibility that can easily be delegated. While the bride wouldn’t want to allow another member of
the wedding party to choose her wedding dress, she may be interested in delegating other responsibilities related
to her dress. For example the bridal shop probably sent the wedding dress out to be steam cleaned subsequent to the
bride’s final fitting and it would be acceptable for the bride to entrust a trusted friend or family member with
picking up the wedding dress and storing it wherever the bride will be dressing for the wedding. Although the
wedding dress may be one of the most important items to the bride, she will likely not mind having someone else run
out to retrieve the dress because it gives the bride just one less thing to worry about.
The bride may wish to work on the design and layout of the reception area but once all of the planning has been
done, it is wise to delegate the responsibility of actually setting up the room to another friend or family member.
The bride may wish to draw up exact specifications to demonstrate the look that she wants but she will surely be
able to trust a family member to follow her directions and prepare the room to her expectations. As the reception
area likely has to be set just prior to the reception it is really not feasible for the bride to be completing this
task as she will most likely be needed elsewhere for photography sessions. Still another aspect of the wedding that
it may be wise to delegate is the addressing of thank you card envelopes. Once the guest list has been finalized
and the guests have all RSVPed, it can be assumed that you will need a thank you card for each guest who responded
affirmatively. The bride is likely to have no particular opinion on how the envelopes should be addressed so this
is a perfect task to delegate. This is a menial but time consuming task that doesn’t directly affect the wedding so
it is a prime candidate for delegation by the pastor.
The stresses of planning a wedding can be extremely overwhelming for a bride who has not learned to delegate
responsibilities to friends and family members who are likely standing by eager to help in any way possible. While
it is understandable that a bride may wish for everything to happen according to her vision, it is also important
to realize that although you may want to control every aspect of the wedding and the wedding planning; sometimes it
is necessary to delegate responsibilities. Sharing certain responsibilities not only makes the bride feel less
overwhelmed but also gives her more available time to focus on the critical aspects of her wedding planning.
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